This one likes moderate light, and to stay pretty wet to avoid accordion leaves on new growth. It’s a very reliable bloomer that has bloomed on every new growth over the past few years since I got it. This particular bloom is a little past its prime, with a couple of branches dried and brown, but most are still blooming. I believe this is the second time this one has bloomed in 2015.

This likes a lot of water — as in sitting in it is fine. Otherwise, the new growth comes in accordioned. It’s an ultra-reliable bloomer. Seldom does it have more than one flower open at a time, but it’s not unusual to have one open flower and another bud or two on the way. Moderate light is fine, as for a Phragmipedium.

This is a twin pair I’ve had for years. Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom is a primary hybrid of Ascocentrum ampullaceum and Neofinetia falcata. These bloom reliably for me every Spring. Like many mini vandaceous, they require moderate light, owing to the Ascocentrum parent, and less water during the cold months than during the rest of the year. Wait for them to pump out q-tip spikes before resuming a regular weekly watering schedule for them, and you will get blooms.

This miniature is a primary hybrid of Trias oblonga and Trias picta. The leaves are roughly 2″ long with flowers a little less than 1″ across. I got it recently from Kawamoto in Honolulu, so I can’t take credit for this bloom, but so far, it seems pretty easy to grow, given ample water, and mostly bright indirect light.

Those of you who are familiar with Restrepias doubtless know of striata, but may not be familiar with xanthophthalma. The leaves on this are thicker, pointier, and longer than those of striata. The flowers are similarly shaped, but instead of being orange/red striped, are sort of a purply cranberry, and spotted. It likes it wet, and shady. This plant has been parked out of direct sun, but with bright afternoon indirect light for years, and still, the leaves turn purple, even from that low amount of light. There really is no seasonality to its blooming, which happens several times a year, whenever it feels like it. In addition to the two open flowers, there are a good half dozen more buds hidden behind othre leaves.

This Dendrobium is also known as Dockrillia rigida. It’s native to Australia. This is one of my most reliable bloomers, blooming on and off throughout the year. The flowers are only about 1/4″ across, crystalline white with nice cranberry colored stripes, in clusters from 2-6 flowers. Whenever a new leaf has finish growing, it pumps out a new spike. As the plant matures and spreads, the largest leaves will get to be about an inch long. It’s very tolerant of temperature and watering schedule variations, however, it does grow best when allowed to dry before giving it a soak. Mine happens to be mounted on some sort of wood plank, but I’ve seen them potted in clay, too. They like a fair amount of light, but if the leaves take on a purple tinge, they’re at the high end of the light range they can tolerate. They don’t need to go purplish to bloom, but it doesn’t hurt.

This one is fairly temperature tolerant, but likes to stay damp, and is okay sitting in some water. As long as it stays damp, even in winter, it will continue to grow. If it gets too dry for any length of time, it just stops growing until it’s watered again. Bright indirect light levels, or shady with some direct morning or late afternoon sun are enough to get it to bloom. It’s a good candidate for “windowsill” growing, and can be treated like a Phragmipedium, if that works as a point of reference for you.

Neostylis Pinky is a primary hybrid of Neofinetia falcata and Rhychostylis gigantea. I’ve had it for several years. Each year it puts out two spikes, but this is the first year I haven’t had them blast on me, probably because I waited until it was a little further along with the spikes before I rewarded it with water. It has a pleasant scent, sort of like a floral scented soap. There is the soapy afterscent, but the initial impression is floral.